Legacy’s Chen ties for second at State

Legacy golf junior Li Chen tied with Regis Jesuit’s Jake Kelley for second place at the 5A boys state golf championships Oct. 1, at Murphy Creek Golf Course in Aurora.

Chen finished the two-day event with a score of 140, four under par. He earned a 67 the first day of championships Sept. 30 and 73 on the second day. Chen said he was a little disappointed with the final results.

“I didn’t play so well today,” Chen said. “Coming in the final round I was thinking, `I’ll try my best to get first,’ but tied for second, that’s still pretty good.”

Chen earned first team all-conference this year. Legacy head coach Bobby Ortega said Chen played his best golf this year at the state tournament.

“He’s a great kid and a great competitor,” Ortega said. “He’s only a junior so that’s good thing.”

Spencer Painton from Regis Jesuit won first place with a two-day total score of 138, six under par. Regis came in first place overall with a score of 425. Legacy won fourth place with a 455 score.

Legacy’s Spencer Roberts tied for 31st place, earning a two-day total score of 155, 11 over par. Trevor Glen shot 16 over par for 160 points. Zach Moritz came in tied for 74th place with a 171 score.

“This is the best we’ve ever finished in the history of the school, in the 14 years I’ve been the coach,” Ortega said. “It’s pretty special, they did a great job.”

3A state golf championships

Joey Bartoletti from Holy Family tied for 19th in the 3A state golf championships Oct. 1 at Pueblo Country Club. Bartoletti finished with a two-day 161 score, 19 over par. Matthew Collier tied for 23rd shooting 163. Tying for 26th place was Conor Stanley for 164 points. Tyler Smiens shot 30 over par for 172 points. Holy Family came in sixth place overall for a two-day score of 488.

Jefferson Academy’s Zach Troyer tied for 68th place shooting 41 over par for a two-day total of 183 points.

Tristan Rohrbaugh of Basalt High School won first place for 3A with a 141 score, one under par. Alexander Dawson High School placed first overall, scoring 445.